It has long been known to provide breast cups of brassieres with a reinforcing frame that extends peripherally of the lower edge of the breast cups, thus to provide stabilization for the garment when in use.
More commonly, dual such frames are provided one for each breast cup, the respective breast cups being interconnected with each other by a gusset panel, thus to provide for relative movement between the breast cups of a limited extent, thereby enhancing the comfort of the garment to the wearer thereof.
It is also known, for example, from Rowell U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,756 to form the respective frames from metal wire of rectangular cross section, which is so positioned that the width and major dimension of the metal wire is to extend substantially parallel to the wearer's skin, the wire being of substantially lesser thickness than is its width. To avoid cutting and abrasion of the pocket of the garment within which the wire is contained, it further is commonly known to encapsulate the wire in a flexible plastics material.
It also is known from Rowell U.S. Pat. No. 3,209,756 to form a double arcuate breast frame from wire of rectangular cross-section, subsequent to which the yoke formed at the interconnection of the respective breast frames is encased in a coating of plastics material, again, to alleviate abrasion and wear to the pocket of material within which the dual breast frame is confined within the garment.
According to Rowell's teachings, the double breast frame, when in an unstressed condition, extends in a single plane, the respective frames thus being coplanar.
Rowell teaches a wire of rectangular cross-section in which the proportioning of the width to thickness is approximately 2:1, such a wire being stiff and unyielding in all directions, including flexing of the wire in a direction transverse to the width thereof, thus providing a frame, especially in a double frame construction that is highly resistant to flexure and yielding, both in vertical directions and transverse directions relative to the wearer's torso.
In Rowell's double frame construction, any attempt to bow the double frame for it to conform to the wearer's body is encumbered with resistance to flexing of the frame, and also automatically will result in the bridge between the respective frames being moved laterally away from the wearer's sternum, thus presenting an unsightly appearance of gapping at the wearer's cleavage.